OTRC: Christina Applegate leaving 'Up All Night'

Christina Applegate is leaving her lead role on the NBC comedy series "Up All Night." The actress' spokesperson confirmed the news in a statement to OTRC.com on Friday, February 8.

"It's been a great experience working on 'Up All Night,' but the show has taken a different creative direction and I decided it was best for me to move on to other endeavors," Applegate said in a statement. "Working with Lorne Michaels has been a dream come true and I am grateful he brought me into his TV family. I will miss the cast, producers and crew, and wish them the best always."

The show, which has struggled in its second season, was initially about Reagan (played by Applegate), a producer who worked on her best friend Ava's (played by Maya Rudolph) daytime talk show. She was shown trying to balance her work life with her role as a new mom with a stay-at-home husband Chris (Will Arnett).

In the second season, Ava lost her talk show and Reagan had to adjust to being a stay-at-home mom while Chris started a business with her brother. "Saturday Night Live" creator Lorne Michaels is an executive producer on the series.

In October, it was reported that the show was revamping its format from a single camera comedy like "The Office" or "Glee" to a multi-camera format like "Two and a Half Men." The show would also start taping the episodes in front of a live studio audience.

"Up All Night" has been on hiatus since December and was set to restart production on five multi-camera episodes in February. The new multi-camera episodes were initially set to air in April or May. Series creator Emily Spivey exited the series in the beginning of January.

Deadline.com, which first reported Applegate's departure, reports that Lisa Kudrow could be approached to take on Applegate's role on the sitcom. However, the report also notes that the network may also cancel the series.

In June 2012 it was reported that Applegate would reprise her role as Veronica Corningstone for "Anchorman 2."